Holy Angels beats Tenafly in girls basketball

By j.c. baumuller

Sports Editor |

Northern Valley Suburbanite

TENAFLY- Holy Angels came out with a renewed confidence Jan. 18 and they went on to defeat the Lady Tigers, 45-35.

"It's a different attitude," said Angels coach Sue Liddy, who saw her team improve to 4-7. "We've been talking and trying to figure out where we are and what we're trying to do. Once we get the idea of what we're trying to do I think we'll be OK.

"What we said was, 'Today we change everything. Today is the day our season changes and we get better from today on.'"

The Angels were leading 8-7 midway through the first quarter when they went on a 13-0 run to grab a 21-7 lead with three minutes to go in the second quarter.

'BETTER CHEMISTRY'

"There was definitely a better chemistry," said junior Ariana Ruiz, who was back in the lineup after recovering from a hamstring injury. "In practices we've been working and trying to go hard on each other. Our JV has been helping us work on everything. Our chemistry today really went well."

"We've been taking it by the fundamentals [in practice], doing individual work, taking it step-by-step," said junior point guard Hunter DeBellis. "Later we do teamwork, connecting, everything we need to do to execute on the court."

The run was interrupted with just over two minutes to go in the half on a three-pointer by Tenafly freshman Casey Burdy. She finished with a team-high 13 points.

Unfortunately for Tenafly, which fell to 4-6 with the loss, those would be the only points they scored in the second quarter as the Angels grabbed a 24-10 halftime lead.

The final three points of the half were scored on a three-pointer from the top of the key by senior Amanda Fellowes with five seconds to go. This was after the Angels have moved the ball around the perimeter for about 43 seconds. It marked the third trey of the second quarter by Fellowes and she finished with a game-high 16 points.

"She's not afraid to shoot the ball," said Liddy. "She's an outside scorer. I told her, 'You're a zone buster. Shoot the ball.'"

8-0 RUN

Holy Angels picked up where they left off in the third quarter with an 8-0 run. The Angels continued to ball the ball smartly around the perimeter which resulted in open shots.

"Lid (Liddy) definitely makes it a point in practice to move the ball," said DeBellis. "We've just really been connecting more and more every day. You can see it in practice, you can see it on the court and it's just awesome to be out there."

As the leader of the offense, DeBellis continually called for the ball and ran the offense with confidence and expertise.

"It's definitely important that I get my hands on the ball," she said. "A lot of the other girls are new to the varsity level and it's a way for me to calm them down, calm the team down and get them in the flow and not overwhelm them."

DOING TOO MUCH

Liddy said she told DeBellis that she might be trying to do too much.

"I was talking to her yesterday," Liddy said, "and I told her, 'I think we're asking you to do too much. You guard the best kid in the diamond, you have to run the offense and you have to be able to score. That's awfully hard to do. Michael Jordan sometimes couldn't do it.'

"When she missed a [long] shot today she said she had no legs. I told her that's what I was trying to tell you yesterday and she said she understood."

DeBellis said she does not mind distributing the ball to teammates rather than trying to score.

"I've been doing this since I was freshman," she said. "It's so much fun and the girls are great. I love them so much. As long as we get the 'W' it's all right. Everyone has to do their job and it's great when we all come together. You see it with the win."

Once again it took awhile for the Tigers to score points and they finally did with 2:59 left on a jumper by senior Lani Shalek. The Angels finished out the quarter by outscoring the Tigers 8-6 to increase their lead to 16, 32-16.

Ruiz tallied six of those eight points. She excelled on offense and defense in the game, finishing with 14 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.

"I've always been a defensive girl," she said. "Ever since I was little my job was to jump and get rebounds, blocks and be the big girl in the middle. Now that I've developed my offensive game it's just been a plus for everyone. I really love defense, though. It's my favorite."

'IT'S WHERE YOU END'

The Tigers offense showed a little more life in the fourth quarter, cutting the Angels' lead to 10 when Burdy buried another three with 5:04 to go. But that as close as they could get and with about two minutes left the substitutes entered the game.

With the win the "new season" for the Angels is off to a good start.

"We have a new pregame thing in the locker room," DeBellis said. "It's a lot of fun. We're all connected, we dance, we have fun. It gets us loosened up and it's just great."

"We came out and said we have to change it," Ruiz said. "This has to be the turning point of our season. Hopefully this steps on the gas pedal and keeps us going. It's not where you begin it's where you end."

Holy Angels beats Tenafly in girls basketball

TENAFLY- Holy Angels came out with a renewed confidence Jan. 18 and they went on to defeat the Lady Tigers, 45-35.

"It's a different attitude," said Angels coach Sue Liddy, who saw her team improve to 4-7. "We've been talking and trying to figure out where we are and what we're trying to do. Once we get the idea of what we're trying to do I think we'll be OK.

"What we said was, 'Today we change everything. Today is the day our season changes and we get better from today on.'"

The Angels were leading 8-7 midway through the first quarter when they went on a 13-0 run to grab a 21-7 lead with three minutes to go in the second quarter.

'BETTER CHEMISTRY'

"There was definitely a better chemistry," said junior Ariana Ruiz, who was back in the lineup after recovering from a hamstring injury. "In practices we've been working and trying to go hard on each other. Our JV has been helping us work on everything. Our chemistry today really went well."

"We've been taking it by the fundamentals [in practice], doing individual work, taking it step-by-step," said junior point guard Hunter DeBellis. "Later we do teamwork, connecting, everything we need to do to execute on the court."

The run was interrupted with just over two minutes to go in the half on a three-pointer by Tenafly freshman Casey Burdy. She finished with a team-high 13 points.

Unfortunately for Tenafly, which fell to 4-6 with the loss, those would be the only points they scored in the second quarter as the Angels grabbed a 24-10 halftime lead.

The final three points of the half were scored on a three-pointer from the top of the key by senior Amanda Fellowes with five seconds to go. This was after the Angels have moved the ball around the perimeter for about 43 seconds. It marked the third trey of the second quarter by Fellowes and she finished with a game-high 16 points.

"She's not afraid to shoot the ball," said Liddy. "She's an outside scorer. I told her, 'You're a zone buster. Shoot the ball.'"

8-0 RUN

Holy Angels picked up where they left off in the third quarter with an 8-0 run. The Angels continued to ball the ball smartly around the perimeter which resulted in open shots.

"Lid (Liddy) definitely makes it a point in practice to move the ball," said DeBellis. "We've just really been connecting more and more every day. You can see it in practice, you can see it on the court and it's just awesome to be out there."

As the leader of the offense, DeBellis continually called for the ball and ran the offense with confidence and expertise.

"It's definitely important that I get my hands on the ball," she said. "A lot of the other girls are new to the varsity level and it's a way for me to calm them down, calm the team down and get them in the flow and not overwhelm them."

DOING TOO MUCH

Liddy said she told DeBellis that she might be trying to do too much.

"I was talking to her yesterday," Liddy said, "and I told her, 'I think we're asking you to do too much. You guard the best kid in the diamond, you have to run the offense and you have to be able to score. That's awfully hard to do. Michael Jordan sometimes couldn't do it.'

"When she missed a [long] shot today she said she had no legs. I told her that's what I was trying to tell you yesterday and she said she understood."

DeBellis said she does not mind distributing the ball to teammates rather than trying to score.